Chemical production processes and/or systems can have various attributes that may be desirable or undesirable. For example, a process or system may demonstrate relatively good conversion, in that a substantial amount of the reactant is converted. A process or system may demonstrate relatively good selectivity, in that a substantial amount of the product is the desired product. Further the process or system may prove to be robust, in that relatively good conversions and/or selectivities can be achieved over relatively long periods of time without consuming or damaging process or system infrastructure such as reactors, conduit, or catalysts.
With reference to glycerol dehydration as an example, it is desirable to utilize a process or system for dehydrating glycerol to acrolein that would provide a substantial conversion of glycerol to acrolein without frequently shutting down the process or system for the purpose of replacing and/or refurbishing the process or system infrastructure. Utilizing multihydric reactants such as glycerol in production processes can make obtaining a continuous process difficult for at least the reason that the reactant and product can include multiple reactive sites.
Having to replace or refurbish infrastructure utilized in chemical processing can be costly from a safety perspective as well as a financial perspective. From a safety perspective, it is undesirable that chemical facility operators be required to replace or refurbish reactors, conduits, and/or catalysts for at least the reason that the replacement or refurbishment of these facilities can expose the operator to toxic chemicals and/or hazardous situations.
Further, stopping a system during operation is far from the most cost effective process for economically producing a desired product. It is desirable that facility systems and/or processes operate continuously and/or at a steady state. Under most economic models, continuous supply of reagent to a system without shutting the system down provides the most profitable method for production.
The present disclosure provides facilities, systems, methods, and catalyst compositions that can be utilized in the production of chemical compositions such as acrolein.